Microsoft launched its Surface RT tablet last month. Early rumors had hinted that the sales price of the tablet would be around $199, but that turned out to be untrue. The actual starting price for the Surface RT tablet was a actually $499. That made the tablet significantly more expensive than some competitors on the market, including the entry-level Apple iPad 2.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that Surface RT tablets have had a "modest" start in sales. Ballmer doesn't attribute the modest sales to the starting price of the tablet; rather he blames limited availability.

"We've had a modest start because Surface is only available on our online retail sites and a few Microsoft stores in the United States," Ballmer was quoted as saying.

The Surface RT tablet runs a limited version of the new Windows 8 operating system and has Office productivity apps preinstalled.

Here’s one interesting tidbit about the new Surface RT tablets: even though they are currently available in 32GB or 64GB versions, the actual amount of storage space available to users is much less. The space taken up by the Windows operating system and preinstalled apps means that the 32GB version only leaves 16GB available to the end-user, while the 64GB version leaves behind 46GB.

One thing I'm concerned about with this tablet and Windows 8, is the available storage to the user. Mainly, does Windows 8 also use the winsxs directory, that becomes bloated and takes up a great deal of space? Windows 7 has this issue, as it has become a problem with my ssd boot drive, and if the Surface only has 16 GB of free space on some models, will this quickly be consumed by winsxs from OS patches, and applications being installed?

Unfortunately, metro apps cannot access any folders on the microSD card unless you manually create junction links to them to "fool" the OS into thinking that they are extensions of existing libraries.

Which makes the microSD card pretty useless for the average/non technically-savvy user (plus there are no guarantees that the junction link workaround won't be regarded as a 'security hole' and plugged up at some point).

The Windows 7 WinSXS folder, although it appears to use a large amount of space, it actually contains mostly "hardlinks" to system files in other folders. The WinSXS folder does not actually consume much space, contrary to what Windows Explorer tells you. Here is a link which explains:http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/2495...

There is a Microsoft KB article which tells you how to reduce space used by the WinSXS file and other system features. However, this is for advanced users only and you should make a full backup of your Windows partition:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2592038

I don't get why people have this issue. I don't have this problem in my Win7 64-bit. I have 120GB SSD on my laptop, and a 256GB SSD for my desktop (where it's partition in 2, 50GB for Win7, and the rest on the other partition (data, programs, games, etc.)

Never had any space problems, and my winsxs folder doesn't grow our of proportions as some people claim.

I doubt this is an issue in Windows RT, especially that the hardware needs to be specific.

Easy way to solve, uninstall windows, install android, just as functional as windows bait (8), anyone says you need windows apps just to be compatable with the wider world has no idea and needs to go back to using a pen and paper.

quote: I don't get why people have this issue. I don't have this problem in my Win7 64-bit. I have 120GB SSD on my laptop, and a 256GB SSD for my desktop (where it's partition in 2, 50GB for Win7, and the rest on the other partition (data, programs, games, etc.)

I don't know how you managed to squeeze Win7-64 into a 50 GB partition. Right now my C: partition is using 78.4 GB. Although, System Restore is using 19 GB and my Windows\Temp folder is using 2.67 GB. I also have almost no programs on C:.

Knowing Microsoft, I doubt they will allow it. However, M$ will put pressure on Asus, Acer, Lenovo, and the others to make Win8 tablets. Some of them should allow owners to remove the back and install their own RAM and mSSD's. Imagine having a true Win8 tablet which has 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB mSSD. Imagine being able to run all of your Windows applications on a 15.6" tablet!http://betanews.com/2012/10/12/heres-your-20-windo...